I agree with the Adriana take. People want to act like she's some innocent lambykins but she knew the money she had came from extortion, murder and theft. And then when she got picked up by the FBI, she could have just taken her prison stay but she chose not to and reaped what she sowed.
My hot take is the Sopranos is a black comedy as much as a dark character study/mob show and it would be way worse if it took itself and it's subject matter totally seriously. The absurdity really makes the brutality hit different in a way I've never seen any other show really achieve
Speaking to the Carmella hate, I think it boils down to people seeing someone they know in her The Sopranos does such a great job with it's characters, as I'm sure we all here basically know, but it's also good at taking the worst character traits of a certain personality, turning those negative traits up to 11 and yet still making them believable as actual people rather than a walking exemplar of that particular personality type. II hate Carmella because she reminds me so much of the absolute worst aspects of one of my own loved ones. I swear it's like sometimes I'm looking through a time portal at one of that loved one's breakdowns over something selfish, money driven and narcissistic, it just captured the person's particular brand of it so well that it's almost hard for me to believe sometimes that David Chase didn't somehow meet this person once and decided to write them into the show. And I think I'm not alone with that situation with Carmella, I think a lot of people have a similar family member. The show, as you say, is about psychology, and it's clear the creators did a lot of research into the particular psychological personality types that went into each character and making those traits stand out like a sore thumb while still making the character a person, which means when we the viewers have someone in our lives who are like that character it just... IMMEDIATELY stands out, and we see all the negative things about that person in our lives and then amped up as far as the dial would go.
Here’s my rebuttal to the “Sopranos is a liberal show” situation. 90s liberals are Todays Conservatives. And Todays Liberals are twice as crazy as 90s Conservatives
I think one of the best hot takes is that it’s heavily implied that Phil Leotardo did in fact do 20 years in the can, however it’s not verbally mentioned.
Yup, and it's also on Chrissie for not properly training her in how to handle the cops. Despite Ade being connected to the mafia, she was never properly taught on how to deal with things like the FBI.
I think Vito's death is less about his sexuality and more about the allure of the gangster lifestyle and the price you pay to participate. Vito was obviously wrong to bail on his family but he still ultimately managed to do what Carmine Jr had done which is to successfully get away from the lifestyle. Eugene wasn't allowed to leave, Christopher was too afraid to leave but Vito actually had a chance. Instead, he chose to go back
like Ugly Face Andre in The Wire, he doesn't know anything outside of his town and ends up just getting back in. Vito actually had a chance at getting away because of his money but he had nothing going for him outside. He couldn't even work a normal job because he was used to people working for him.
Also, for Phil it was less about Vito being gay and more about him still being mad about Blundetto killing Billy and Phil still wanting to kill a Sopranos family associate himself as revenge. Tony S took his chance to kill Tony B so he used the gay thing as an excuse to get his revenge by killing Vito.
Phil was allegedly in the joint for _20 years_. He wasn’t just jerking off into a sock that whole time. His homophobia was very real and like most homophobia, it was about his own self-loathing.
I didn’t even realise how common it was for people to hate Melfi and her scenes, I see her as a vital character in the show and their scenes are just as much about her character development as Tony’s, especially when she doesn’t tell him anything in Employee of the Month
I found the Melfi scenes a lot less interesting on a rewatch. Theyre very good the first time through, but knowing that they dont really amount to anything for Tonys growth as a character makes them feel a little pointless on a rewatch. Theyre also almost always a 1v1 scene so you don't get any new dynamics there.
@@teksnotdead902that’s not true. Tony indeed gets worse and utilizes the therapy to his advantage as a criminal. He’s not just an immovable rock. he does do a lot of steps forward and then steps back. But what would you expect? The therapy to actually work?? I don’t even know how that could possibly look like. It’s all about nuance and depth, and Melfi scenes are a crucial way to amplify the complexity of the show. It’s crazy that anyone would dislike it to me
@@opaljk4835 I don’t dislike them, but they only apply to Tony and Melfi. I get so much more out of group scenes at the Bing or in the Soprano household. The therapy scenes are kind of on an island in a way.
The psychological approach to the story and characters is what sets the Sopranos apart from other mob movies / shows. It's practically the selling point of the whole thing and Melfi is one of the biggest parts of that point.
The dream sequences in this show are so well done. In most shows they seem to be used as bait or to show what could have happened but the sopranos uses them so well that it's justified.
I always thought the whole thing was so hilarious. Tony basically had Junior's top 2 guys killed. Mikey Palmice and Chucky Signore. But he gets so pissed when Junior questions his athleticism.
I think the Vito gay storyline is more about how the mafia, a very old traditional organization, deals with things in the modern age. It's going back to one of the central themes of the show of a declining mob in a modern world. If the show continued into the 2010s and 2020s, you would have the mob having to navigate other emerging issues. Could you imagine the glorified crew during COVID, arguing about masks, CDC regulations, and vaccines 😂
The one criticism that Many Saints of Newark gets that I don’t agree with is that they “ruined it by making it woke.” Like it wasn’t good, but if you’re a genuine sopranos fan, you love a show that has subplots about a gay mobster, interracial dating, drug abuse, toxic masculinity and toxic femininity, and has an over-arcing story about a mob boss who seeks therapy. Sopranos was covering social issues long before woke was even a thing.
I actually saw some people reacting to the show saying "wait what he was an interior decorator" like wait are you serious right now can you really not infer what that means 😅😅
My hot takes: #1 - Uncle Philly was too modest about his time in the can. Hardly ever spoke about it. How much time did he do again? #2 - Ginny Sack was the hottest babe in the entire series. I'd totally hit that. I'm not joking either. You know she gets down and dirty between the sheets if Johnny Sack is willing to commit murder for her honor. In fact, I'm pretty sure that after Tony dies, Carmela flies to Italy to finally pledge her love to Furio only to find Ginny beat her to it and she and Furio are furiously banging. #3 - The show ended too early and needed more seasons. I would have liked to see more about Carmella and the kids eventually coming to terms with their complicity with Tony's mob life. Was there ever something that Tony could do that was so bad that it would motivate Carm to walk out the door and live the life of a simply Denny's waitress in a crappy little apartment? Was Meadow on her way to becoming a clueless mob wife like her mother as well as a crooked mob lawyer or would she see the light? Was AJ going to become a movie producer under Little Carmine's subspecies? I do think AJ out of anyone had the best chance of going legit and getting out of the mob life. #4 - I don't think Paulie helped get Tony killed but he most likely took over NJ as a sort of regional manager reporting directly to NYC. NJ basically gets absorbed as an NYC mob subdivision. #5 - Sil only fired a warning shot that landed on the ground next to Ade's head to warn her against ratting then put her on a plane to Fiji. She's fine and now married to another man with a big nose because she has the hots for men with big noses but this one is a lot nicer to her and doesnt beat her.
#6 - After Tony dies, Artie is killed by Benny Fazio, Criminal Mastermind because Artie no longer has Tony's protection. #7 - I didn't like the way Chrissy went out. One of the best characters in the series and he dies because of Kennedy and Heidi? BTW Heidi was a hit girl in the employ of Uncle Philly. #8 - The racoon that Tony swerved to avoid hitting and ended up in a big crash was also a hit varmint in the employ of Uncle Philly #9 - The vipers killed Tony. Payback for the wine he stole. #10 - Or possibly Georgie did it because of all the unnecessary beatings Tony gave him
I loved season 1 because of the power struggle between Corrado and Tony. Season 1 was probably my favorite season, and I know this is blasphemous but the back half of season 6 is probably my least favorite.
@@AnneHathawayRules Yeah I thought season 1 was peak Junior for sure. Season 5 and 2nd half of six were when the show was most dark and least rewatchable for me for sure.
I think people also misunderstand that to the family in regards to Adrianna, if she did go to them about the FBI they would likely have wacked her anyways.
Agree with Nate, first of all the Matoosh situation was like wtf ... why would u hide that from your husband, that's so odd, but also the second she knows her bff is FBI, you go to Chrissy, and he goes to Tony and at that point Adrianna would only be seen as a dumb@ss instead of a rat, and the situation coulda been saved.
@@Bobby.B619 Are you kidding me? These mob guys whack people for inconveniencing them the slightest bit. Remember Christopher and Paulie with the waiter? Vito and that random civilian asking to get insurance involved? There was a very real possibility Tony especially would have killed her just for being so naive and stupid she'd let a literal undercover employee of the government into his home, never mind get so close to her that she learns things about Christopher. He'd do it just to cover the lawyer fees he'd need to cover for her alone probably. She was fucked either way. The stupid thing was trusting her addict, unloyal and abusive idiot fiancé.
I'm not 100 percent sure about that. Look at Feech, Tony B, Uncle Philly, Angelo, Richie - all these guys who did long bids in the can several decades (20 years for Phil). There's a code that if you get caught, you clam up, you don't rat on your fellow mobsters to save your ass and do less time, and when you get out, they welcome you back and take care of you. So I think in Ade's case if she went to Tony, he probably would have coached her through it. Her situation was different because the Feds planted an undercover spy posing as a friend, so she feared it already looked like she was working with them when she didn't know. But at that point she hadn't given them anything, she tells Tony they tricked me, they had this agent pretend to be my friend, I had no idea, I'm sorry I brought her to your house I didn't know I didn't tell her anything...I think Tony advises her to just shut up, do a short bid on the drug charges and they welcome her back as a hero. The Feds took advantage of Ade's naivete. She should have lawyered up.
24:08 I think this scene implies Vito can quickly identify the most expensive item not because he's a good decorator, but due to his skills as a criminal--i.e. casing. No matter how far Vito flees from New Jersey, he's unable to escape his criminal past and is ultimately undone by its allure.
Lmao implying the lawyer wouldn't want you to sign shit without his knowledge. He gets paid even more due to having to drag shit out in court. Imagine thinking attorneys are your friends or are looking out for you lololol and not leeches&ticks looking to suck you dry.
@@Yostubathis is something an elementary schooler would think. If you get involved with the feds and either die or get locked up your lawyer aint getting a piece of your wallet ever again. You think they go through all the hoops to become a lawyer just to lose customers?
I never thought the show was meant to be liberal or conservative, I view it as a depiction in the mind of a bunch of corrupt guys in the mafia that NO ONE is supposed to ‘agree’ with.
Same here. To me Sopranos is almost like South Park in the sense that it shits on everyone and thus no one gets a pass from the show's nihilistic outlook. If the show makes any general judgement then perhaps it says that the older generations were (technically) superior to the modern ones, at least within the confines of the mafia's circle. I say that because the two best and most universally agreed on bosses in the show are Carmine Senior and Jackie Aprile who were mostly stoic, pragmatic and intelligent, while everyone else who followed in their footsteps was a neurotic mess. That's also why I don't agree with the common "toxic masculinity" arguement because if it actually were in effect then previous bosses such as those two should be even worse than their replacements. That and Janice is supposed to be a feminist but she's as much of a hypocrite as her brother, in addition Livia exists as an irradiated origin point of narcissism which would go on to infect all others in her family. So even there the show doesn't take any one side. But getting back to the bosses, on the other hand such characters are balanced by the remaining ones like Junior, both of Tony's parents, arguably Bobby's father who was a psycho, etc. So overall even that (debatable) point I initially brought up is flimsy at best. Ultimately, the only apparent point the Sopranos makes is that almost all people are selfish scumbags, that life sucks until you turn yourself into a sociopath (then it's merely bearable), and that eventually it all ends in a random and arbitrary manner.
It's neither. It's a leftist show, leftists hate both liberals and conservatives because, like it or not, both are right wing ideas. Most of the shows people see as center that laughs at both sides are actually leftists laughing at liberals and conservatives, but americans don't see it because they think liberals are in the left. Maybe this is gonna blow americans minds, but yes, liberals are right wing, and the left is almost non existant politically. For most of the world, America is a nutjob far right country that's a couple of steps away from military dictatorship.
Yea it’s not liberal. It just depicts a group of conservative guys and shows how their conservative views are outdated and don’t work. Jokes aside, I think you’re reacting this way because of the modern connotation to the word “liberal”. It’s pretty obvious that the show is critiquing conservative viewpoints.
The dream sequence take irked me. Those were by far some of my favorite episodes. They truly depicted how fever dreams feel while also showing the inflection of Tony’s alternate dream life versus his own.
Anyone who dislike the dream scenes can accurstely be categorized as bozos. If I’m having a convo about the show and the person say this, I immediately dismiss eveeything they’ve said and what they will say.
After watching The Many Saints of Newark, I have to agree with you. Terrence Winter, Matthew Weiner, Robin Green and Mitch Burgess were the strongest writers on the staff.
Carmela was terrible, she was unremarkable and acted like she was better then others, also she keeps trying to convince herself that she's a good person, she lives her life in splendor from money that people literally died because of.
Just rewatched Sopranos HBO reran this January 2024 and I realized that Carmelo was a total witch. Watching it 25 years later with different eyes and some life lessons on the way.
I think Tony Blundetto would have worked perfectly if there was more setup for him. Imagine if they had Buchemi in for a couple episodes of season 2, he gets pinched but then he gets out for season 5 as a changed man, although he kept the code. Ofc you can't plan stuff like that, but my biggest issue was just that suddenly Tony had a new, very important family member, basically a brother, that we had never heard of and nobody had mentioned before.
I saw another video that said Phil was so focused on killing Vito because Phil himself was on the DL in prison. In the scene in the room where Vito is killed, you see Phil tightly gripping the edges of the bed as if it was something Phil was hiding inside.
I agree! I saw some theories that Phill needs to kill and beat Vito so that it can justify any homosexual activities he may have been doing while in prison. It’s for sure just a theory but it’s super interesting and really makes you dive deeper into these great characters!
The Vito being gay story was absolutely important. It’s a big detractor to the idea that the mafia provides a glamorous lifestyle. The mafia has a very specific set of norms that if someone associated with them deviates from, they don’t just ostracize that person. They kill that person. Tony almost got killed for seeing a psychiatrist. And he would’ve in the real mafia. It just shows the viewer how many liberal freedoms they have by not being in the mafia.
Well, it was more because Phil thought he was disrespecting his family because Vito was cheating on his wife (Phil’s sister) with men. It wasn’t just because he was gay, but I can see were you’re coming from
@@the2theonly672Bruh everyone cheats on their wife in this show, no one has an issue with doing that in the mafia but johnny sack. Every time they refer to Vito they call him a faggot, when Phil is talking about clipping Tony one of his reasons is that he “harbored a faggot”. The ENTIRE point of contention is that he likes men. Phil just mentions the family part to add salt to the wound
@@the2theonly672 there was also some self loathing mixed in there. There are several lines that could hint to Phil having gay interactions while he was in jail. Even David Chase himself said that Phil was battling with some closeted issues, although he was never self aware enough to realize it himself
Season 1 has a good stand alone episode. It's the one Breaking Bad copies a shot from, College. I also believe it is Tony's first on-screen kill, and I think David Chase likes it as a stand alone/short film
Pine barrens is not a good intro to the Sopranos cause it's not reflective of the show. It's a gag episode about supporting characters that only works so well because we alrdy love the characters by the time we get to it
Honestly, those were the most barely luke-warm of so-called “hot-takes” . I thought actual Sopranos fans/nerds would have more depth than that. Disappointing video
As out of place as dreams may be in the genre, I feel like it is used purposefully to show more inside the character's heads, what haunts them, some things they leave out if they discuss them with others. Especially since the audience is already observing the actors express with the character both their overt words, the reason they choose these words and what their motives are, the secrets they hide from other characters and fail to hide from themselves, it's a lot they give you. I feel like the dreams don't exploit the fake-out too much or without clues
@@supersaiyanzero386id give it a 0 it was terrible even as a stand alone movie. Dickie was Tony's mentor but in saints they barley spoke before he died
The Vito question I think is important because it is actually very much essential to Tony's development through the series, indirectly. We see through Vito what Tony struggles with, longing to be a person free of the convictions he's long lived with, the shit he's been born into, and obviously going into what is for him forbidden territory. For Vito, this was embracing his homosexuality. For Tony, as we saw following his recovery from the gunshot and initially embracing the "each day's a gift" inclination, it was trying to be a man with more humanity than was compatible with his role in life, that of a ruthless gangster, and we all saw which tendency won out in the end. The Vito arc is a variation on a theme of the show, this struggle between who one is and who one could be, and how that can very much be a matter of life and death.
I have a hot take. People who think season 5 is weak, Tony Blundetto is a bad character, and/or don’t like or see the need for the dream sequences completely miss the entire point of the show and would probably be better off watching Marvel movies on an endless loop. These are probably the same people who, when the show was on its original run, complained whenever there weren’t enough people being whacked.
I always liked Tony B but I didn't like the dream episode when I was young - the one where Tony dreams he's like a law abiding salesman or something. Now that I'm older I realize the point was to show that while Tony wishes he'd never been drawn into the mafia life so he wouldnt have all these problems, he probably would have a lot of problems as a civilian anyway, he'd cheat on his wife and overeat and be depressed and unhappy etc.
I hate Meadow far more than I hate. AJ. Meadow betrayed her ideals of protecting innocent people in need to protect criminals like her father because she wants to see her and her family as a victim of sustemic racism.
You're so real for giving love to Adriana and Carmella, I find a lot of these shows with the lead being super masculine or badass ( or being perceived as such ) their women counterparts are always blamed for taking away from that somehow. I think it's hilarious to say Adriana deserved what she got when we were shown time and time again how much she valued Christopher and their relationship and how he only treated her worse as the seasons went on. Kinda scary people can sit through all that and still be on the side of "she deserved it" love your takes Kino!!!
The writers set it up so that Ade was put into a position where she felt had no choice but to cooperate with the FBI to help Chrissy. Otherwise, she would not have done it and would have accepted jail time to avoid it. Keep in mind as much as they rail against rats - any of those guys - Tony, Chrissy, Paulie, etc would totally turn rat to spare themselves time in the can. Sil is the only one who I think would not rat and take can time like a man.
18:05 When you say that "some of his ideas are wrong" you choose to play the scene in which they discuss crime. While Tony gets lots of things wrong, in this scene he is spitting straight facts, while Meadow is spouting deluded liberal talking points and obviously doesn't really know what she's talking about. It's things like this that make it not so straightforward to call it a "liberal show". It tends to show people as being inconsistent and hypocritical no matter what their position.
Hot take: I think the writing at times was disappointing. 1. I think Carmela and Furio was forced and hardly organic. 2. I think Melfi doing nothing about the stairway incident attack made the whole episode pointless, from a character development perspective. Her going to Tony could have made their dynamic and history so much more interesting. 3. The Russian getting away in the Pines episode was more of a let down rather than enjoyably ambiguous. I would have liked to see what happened between Tony and the Russian mob. What do you guys think?
I understand the Carmela hate more than hating Skylar White. Skylar was legitimately a victim. Carmela is a complicit hypocrite. Now, yes, I certainly think there are people who hate Carmela just because of their own issues with women. And you have a point when you say "point me out a character in Sopranos who ISN'T selfish/a hypocrite/etc." I think what gets under people's skin about Carmela is that, as Tony says, "she acts like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth". She has a very morally-superior and sanctimonious attitude for a person who knowingly benefits from blood money. And I think that just makes a lot of people's blood boil. It's also why people love the scene where the Jewish psychiatrist calls out all her bullshit. That being said though, it IS fair to say that at the end of the day, she's not objectively one of the most reprehensible characters on the show, she's not a murderous psycho like Ralphie or Ritchie. And I agree that she's an amazingly well-written character. She's complex.
I think you forgot about that part of Leotardo being gay himself. He literally comes out of a closet to kill Vito, Chase himself has confirmed this. It's very clear.
Chase is desperate for relevance. You can't come out ten years later an say "oh this happened" when you said it was open ended for so long. Chase directed two episodes the first an the last the worst ones.
@@basedbane787 Chase might not have directed it but he wrote the episode. It's his characters. And he mostly lets the show speak for itself, he won't confirm or deny wether Tony dies at the end either.
I put season 5 way up. There are so many negative things about Carmella, she's one of my top characters too but she's way more "evil" than people say. Wayyyy worse. Wonderfully written character with some good moments but she's evil not pure rage evil like Tony or Ralph but she's definitely a manipulative sociopathic mobster and on several occasions she even says things that will obviously make Tony take action like by constantly goading him about Christopher and Adriana and talking about the movie Cleaver I mean if she never got all indignant I'm not sure Tony would have killed Christopher even though I can agree that it is one of the best parts of the story and makes the show genius because from what I have read extensively it seems like the killing of Christopher was actually Tony's revenge against his own father
Fun fact I read: Phil actually only mentions being in prison for 20 years, 3 times in the show. He was in 30 episodes so its actually only 0.1 times per episode. Now he does mention prison a couple more times in conversation, but not the 20 years part. For example "When I was in the can, my kid brother Billy took care of Paddy and the grandkids" or “he’s never been in the can, not really”
Hot take: David Chase is overrated af, some of the episodes he directed were dog$h!t and the ending imo was lame and super lazy. The Many Saints of Newark is prime example of him being found out as the mediocre film maker that he is.
Watching The sopranos again after The wire, I see the Tony B hate a little more. I like him and love Steve but Cutty is just a better version basically
Hot take: The Furio/Carmella romance arc was terrible and ruined an otherwise good character in Furio. The whole arc was cringey at best and was rather lack luster. We could have done without that storyline, because they did with Vic the contractor too. It didn't work then either but made more sense than a made guy doing it.
She was a full grown woman who didn't give a fuck that her boyfriend was a murderer as long as she got nice things. Your counter argument is just repeating that she was a "naeive young girl that just wanted to help her family" is patently wrong.
The Blundetto thing is crazy to me. The prevailing opinion used to be the opposite of that and season 4 was often be talked about as the worst. Which I never got
The more I rewatch the Sopranos, the more I love Season 5 and that animal (can’t even say his name) and also the more I dislike Adrianna. She could’ve easily got a lawyer, but she was too nice.
I am also kind of an Adriana simp. lol. And regarding Paulie, he's one of the best characters and he's so funny. Stil, Paulie's yammering about things nearly got some people killed like Ralphie, since he told Johnny Sack the joke about Ginny. And Christopher too. How? In the episode Irregular Around the Margins, when Paulie was on the phone hearing about Adriana "suffering a severe blow to the head", he has this WTF expression in his face, and it was most likely that he spread the rumor leading to this game of telephone.
Meadow's relationships prove Tony right that people should stick to their own but further than just a psychical level. Noah a half black half jew that gives Meadow the feeling of being free from her family's control but Noah takes advantage of a young impressionable open minded woman then dumps her after he gets what he wants. Jackie is close to family so she thinks it will work out better than Noah but Jackie is an arrogant wannabe who doesn't treat Meadow right thinking that is how he should be to be one of guys. Finn is an overcorrection from Jackie but is weak man that is far too soft and emotional for Meadow and represents moving away from her family. Finally Patrick matches Meadow in every aspect. He is focused on his career and his close the the family but not too close like Jackie. I hope the writers actually wrote it all this way or else I'm just gonna look like a schizo rambling at a wall.
One of the reasons why Meadow, someone who is very concerned about progressive issues, breaks up with Finn because he's too soft and emotional. Not to mention Melfi's attachment to Tony and the many women, even the strong independent types, freely spreading their legs to wealthy mafia criminals. How can you say The Sopranos is actually a liberal show after that lmao
I dislike Carmela because she can be very sanctimonious for a person who is essentially a mob queen. That sort of person who is so deep into their own cognitive dissonance that they can't tell where the lie ends and the truth begins can be very annoying. People dislike hypocrisy more than they dislike immorality. Of course, much of the same can be said for Tony.
Paulie was a real gangster loyal to tony (for the most part) but he always had a plan apart from tony and would have thrown tony overboard if Tony tried something slick on the boat 💯
On the Vito arc. Anyone schooled in mob history should know an actual boss of the "Jersey mob " The De Cavalcante Family", was found to be Gay. and was killed for it.
Here’s a hot take. Tony Soprano is the main antagonist is season 2, 3, 4, and half way through 5. He deliberately sandbags, disrespects, and alienates certain guys who for the most part would help the DiMeo family. For example, take both Richie and Jackie Jr Aprile. It’s clear that Tony doesn’t want an Aprile to become powerful or popular due to his position as street boss. And in Richie’s defense, he has legitimate gripes that Tony ignores and rules against. And it’s obvious he doesn’t want Jackie Jr to be involved with the family because he’s Jackie’s son. Doesn’t want the son of the most well respected boss to gain ground. Feech from Season 5 gets the same Richie Aprile treatment from Tony. Throughout Season 3 and 4, Tony is jealous of Ralphie. Ralph is better looking and a better earner. And just like Richie, Ralph isn’t afraid of Tony. He even disrespects Tony in front of everyone. Then of course Tony is jealous that Ralph has a good looking girlfriend which Tony later takes from Ralphie.
Jackie Jr - Tony was BFFs with his father, Jackie Sr, who did not want Jackie Jr in the life so Tony was trying to respect his wishes and keep him out of it. Jackie Jr had the money and connections to suceeed either as a mobster or in the straight civilian life, should have picked the latter, ended up screwing up both. Richie - Suffered from can-itis, where guys come out of the can after 10-20 years and think they should have alll the success they would have had if they'd been earning for 20 years. Richie thought he should be boss and didn't follow orders. Ralphie - Tony shouldnt have stolen his gf, but Ralphie did kill a 20 year old girl carrying his baby at the club which was a pretty horrible thing to forget even if she was a hoowah.
There is one detail that makes me think Jimmy might not have been a rat. In the final episode of the first season the FBI boss said that it was his idea to set a wire in the Green Grove and everyone else in the agency thought it was a waste of time. If Jimmy was a rat he would probably tell the agency that he and all the other capos put their mothers in that nursing home.
Personally i dont believe they were implying Vito as a decorator when picking the vase so much as its another example too him of a life where he is free to be himself. Before this he sees the gay couple in the diner who are comfortably living their existence. The diner, antiques, quaint little town. Its all a calling to Vito showing he could live this way and there are people who do. Unlike all the hiding and sneaking he has to do when in New Jersey.
I think you're right. Vito is handed what is basically a fantasy fairy tale, a small hospitable town that is accepting and free from judgement. A place where he can freely be himself. He even gets a stereotypical fireman biker archetype randomly landing in his lap, if you will, despite Vito himself being bellow average in the looks department. In short he gets it all. But it's not free. The price is a life of constant and hard honest work. He has to say no to his previous life of easy money and power. Vito couldn't do that. Most characters in the show were also like him. I like to think that Carmine Jr. managed to get out since that's what his dream was about and his wife seemed supportive. But even he was still present at the final sitdown so I don't know.
@@GeneralProfessor 100% I didn't think of the sacrifice part but you're absolutely right. He has everything fall into his lap but cannot sacrifice the pull of his old life. Super interesting.
Big plothole I just noticed after 20 years: Would Carlo really flip on Tony, given the fact that Tony witnessed him committing a murder with evidence in hand? It would seem like if Carlo ever ratted on Tony, Tony would lose all incentive to not tell the Feds that Carlo killed Fat Dom. Now you might argue that Tony would clam up about it to protect Sil, but Tony could just say that Carlo acted alone and it would be Tony's word against Carlo. I'm not sure Carlo would want to shake that tree knowing that Tony could easily implicate him in a murder.
it's not a liberal show. that doesn't mean it's conservative at all but i think it's a misuse of the word liberal because there are many lenses through which you can watch the show and see the critique of liberalism (which i think the writers and chase fully intended), zelleman esplanade and hud scam arcs, and the massarone strike breaking are good examples of this i think. it definitely takes a more left view than liberal (and no liberal is not left lol)
Altieri was definitely a rat lmao do you remember that meeting🤣🤣🤣🤣? Or the sus ass way he was talking in Tony's basement. The "mother of god" could be interpreted as a sort of "it's over no matter what because they think I'm a rat", even if he isn't, but the other things are definite tells.
Adriana knew what was going on. She was born into that life and chose to stay in it and she enjoyed the high life privileges she got from it. She just cracked like Jackie and Matt.
Some of the hot-takes/criticisms come from people who somewhat misunderstand what the show was meant to be about. It wasn't meant to be a straight-forward crime thriller about whackings, betrayals, etc. like Goodfellas or Casino. It's honestly not even really a show purely about the mafia or criminals. It's firstly a deep, psychological character study of a man who happens to be a mobster, and secondly a tapestry about modern American culture and generational change. These are the reasons why things like the dreams, the therapy, the family scenes, etc., are so essential. Without them the show is a glorified Goodfellas clone; with them, it's something much larger and deeper and more complex. On rewatches I enjoy the family drama and therapy scenes more than the mob stuff. It holds up a lot better 20 years later and has much more to say.
Happy new year kino, I met sopranos last year and your channel helped me a lot to understand a lot of things and themes in the show that I didn't understand when I watched it, I hope there's a lot more soprano content to come in 2024, Anyway, $4 a pound
Speaking as someone who hates dream sequences in most things, the dream sequences in The Sopranos are some of my favourite scenes in any show or movie period. The key difference between dreams in The Sopranos and dreams in 99% of other media is that The Sopranos doesn't use dreams as lazy excuse to do something shocking to grab the audience only to then avoid the dramatic consequences, which is what most shows and movies do, and it's just cheap drama. The Sopranos is different, as it exclusively uses dreams to give insight on Tony as a character, a window into Tony's subconscious, with those insights then actually carrying over into the real drama of the show once Tony wakes up (e.g. Tony coming to accept that Puss is a rat or that Blundetto's suspicious behaviour is inevitably leading to something too big to ignore, just to name a few). Also, with very few and brief exceptions which in-context break the following rule with good reason, the dreams are always very explicitly established to be dreams through clever visuals and even using distinctly different editing and cinematography from how the show is usually presented, so the audience is "in on it" and not being tricked for shock value. If The Sopranos had lesser writers and directors, we would have got dreams where all of Tony's family get killed off and ones of Tony killing Christopher or Puss, editied and presented like any other scene, only to suddenly cut to Tony waking up, thus undoing the drama and undermining the potential dramatic weight scenes that that could have had otherwise. Imagine how much LESS of an impact Christopher's death would have had if Tony had dreamt about doing it prior to the episode where it actually happens. That's the kind of lazy drama most shows/movies use dreams for, but The Sopranos NEVER did that, instead always using dreams to show meaningful and lasting character insight. That's why the dream sequences in The Sopranos work and are not the lazy writing crutch they tend to be in other stuff.
What shows like Sopranos, BB, BCS, portray is evil in a realistic way. Evil in a Marvel movie is easy, you just have a bad guy and he is bad because he is bad, it is just some supernatural monster that exists only to be bad. In a realistic context it is far more difficult because people don't just sit on some throne in space all day waiting to do evil, but they grow up like everybody else, have jobs, have families/friends, have dreams/hopes/ambitions/fears/etc. Even though some people truly are rotten to the core, they still have to grow up and somehow live in this world for a couple of decades, they at some point have to be able to adapt to normal life in some manner. What would the life of a ruthless, psychopathic, mob boss, look like in a realistic way? That is what the Sopranos is about.
I LOVED that Animal Blundetto and I love Steve Buscemi in general. Also, season 5 was good. The seasons that sucked are 6 snd 7. Or 6a and 6b if you like. I hated the hideous and boring and stagnant coma dream BS. And then all of season 7 was dog spit. And then Tony killing off Chrissy was it for me. I know longer eempathized with Tony. I rooted for him to live, but beyond that, I hated who he'd become. And people say he killed Chrissy because Chrissy was a junky and couldn't have passed a field sobriety/drug test. When really, I think it's that T who couldnt switch seats with Chris because it was TONY who knew that he HIMSELF couldnt pass a UA because I believe he was doing coke and heroin among other things at this time (we already know he did coke with Adrienne in the past, and did a bunch of mascaline or peyote with that whore in Vegas or whatever after killing Chris), and who knows what drugs he may have done with Julianna Margolis the junky real estate character or whatever the hell she was.
I didn't like the dream episode 20 years ago when I was young I thought it was stupid. Now im older and I realize the point was to show even if Tony lived a different life as a law abiding citizen, he still would have a lot of problems. True, he wouldnt be killing people or worried about going to jail, but he would still cheat on his wife, overeat, be sad, moody and depressed. People are just born with certain problems that will affect them no matter what path they choose.. I did not like the way Chrissy went out. One of the top characters on the show and he gets killed by Heidi and Kennedy? Come on. They needed a couple more seasons to flush it out, maybe let Chrissy and Tony go to war.
Gonna be honest, Carmella, Meadow, and AJ as characters really annoyed me and made it pretty hard to get through episodes based around them. I also think Ralph and Richie died too early. Didn't really enjoy season 4 that much at all.
Hot take: The writing on Sopranos was nothing special. The dialogues are great (most of the time) but how the plot points happen because of so many random accidents happening is lazy.
